Museum of Ethnology--page two (of 5 pages)

Sedang communal house (nha rong) set up in the open-air museum

The tallest structure in the village, this communal house is a meeting hall, a site for ceremonies, and a reception hall for visitors. In modern times, family groups live in stilt houses arranged variously around the communal house, although in earlier periods large households used to live in long houses. (See example below.)

Ede communal house

Walls are of plaited bamboo and the structure is raised off the ground on two rows of columns. The roof is straw.

Front porch and carved wooden stair steps

The interior is divided into two areas. "The first section is called "Gah"; it is both the reception area and the communal area of the large matrilineal extended family. The other part, "ok," is divided into many small rooms, each of which is reserved for the couple in the extended family" (Huy 61).